The front gate and wall of EA's Madrid office have been defaced with spray-painted messages reading "SAVE MASS EFFECT," an act of vandalism by an incensed fan following the publisher's recent decision to close BioWare and cancel the next installment in the beloved sci-fi RPG series. The graffiti was discovered by a Reddit user who posted images of the vandalism on the Mass Effect subreddit. This incident marks an escalation in fan efforts to preserve the franchise.
Earlier this month, EA announced the closure of BioWare, effectively ending hopes for a new Mass Effect game developed by the original studio. In response, a significant portion of the fanbase has mobilized. Prior to the graffiti, fans organized a 15-second advertisement spot in Times Square and initiated a Change.org petition demanding that EA continue developing games in the Mass Effect series, with or without BioWare. The petition has garnered over a quarter-million signatures.
Fan reactions to these escalating tactics are divided, with some questioning whether the vandalism presents a negative image for the community or if the efforts are ultimately futile. Reports suggest that EA decided to abandon the Mass Effect franchise in favor of potentially safer Star Wars tie-ins, such as Battlefront 3. This move comes amidst EA's acquisition by a coalition of Saudi and Jared Kushner-affiliated firms. The publisher has a history of not prioritizing its legacy franchises or studios, and BioWare, in particular, has been involved in numerous labor disputes.
Even if these fan campaigns were to influence EA executives, the closure of BioWare, the studio responsible for the Mass Effect series, represents significant damage that is unlikely to be undone. The situation has also drawn attention from politicians, with Avi Lewis, the newly elected leader of the Canadian federal New Democratic Party, suggesting that stricter policies should be implemented to prevent private equity firms from acquiring and dismantling Canadian studios. Lewis proposed that BioWare's staff should receive federal funding to buy the studio themselves and continue developing games like Mass Effect.